Whistle-blower on Illegal Mosque Schools Sacked

THE HAGUE, 31/10/13 - The Rotterdam public servant who told journalists hat Mosques run illegal boarding schools has been fired by the city council with immediate effect. Based on confidential documents and interviews, NRC Handelsblad reported last year that mosque boarding schools exist in Rotterdam among other locations which had no licence to have children stay overnight. Fifty girls were living the attic of one of these mosques. The government carried out no supervision of these schools. The public servant who tipped off the newspaper received a letter of dismissal on Monday in which he was accused by the city council of “serious dereliction of duty.” The letter also says he created a “feeling of unsafeness” at the municipal organisation, by “recording and distributing an internal meeting.” Parties in the Rotterdam city council had already expressed their concern earlier that the city council might sack the whistle-blower. According to the Socialist Party (SP) and Liveable Rotterdam, a public servant who brings abuses to light should never be sacked. The Rotterdam civil servant has applied for a summary injunction against his dismissal. In normal court proceedings, he will also seek a decision in principle on the position of whistle-blowers, his lawyers Frank van Ardenne and Anja Hoffmans announced Wednesday.